1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of producing steel with a high manganese and low carbon content on the basis of liquid pig iron or liquid steel and slag-forming constituents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Production of steel with a high manganese content in metallurgical plants is carried out mainly on the basis of scrap in electrical arc furnaces (Report at metallurgical Forum, Leoben 2003, authors Gigacher, Doppler, Bernard Krieger). During the production, a manganese carrier such as ferro-alloy is added to the melt. This presents a problem as ferro-manganese (FeMn) with a low carbon content is in about 300 times more expensive than similar products with a high C-content. FeMn with a low carbon content is, however, best suited for the production.
The production of steel with a high manganese content in a vessel other than electrical arc furnace fails because with blowing of oxygen, a large amount of manganese slags as during decarburization of steel, oxygen develops a high affinity to manganese. Up to the present, with the selection of the converter route, the drawback consisted in a high slagging of manganese and a correspondingly low manganese content in steel of about 16-17%.
The production of steel with a high manganese and low carbon content in electrical arc furnaces is connected with several draw backs: in electrical arc furnaces at temperatures up to 3000° C., a high vaporization of manganese takes place. Further, in order to insure a low content of companion elements, a high-quality, expensive scrap is necessary. Besides, use of the expensive ferro-alloys with a low carbon content is necessary.